Shale companies are bullish on the oil price and expect a big cash payoff next year
US independents stick to the script
Shale producers are cautiously eyeing Opec+ before lifting capex while substantially trimming hedging
Any expectations that booming oil and gas prices might prompt the US shale patch to accelerate drilling heading into 2022 have been largely dashed by the third-quarter results announcements of a swathe of independents. “This industry tried a market share war with Opec before and it did not work out,” says Kaes Van’t Hof, CFO at Texan independent Diamondback Energy. “Why do we not let Opec bring back their spare capacity, stay flat, and see what the future holds in 2023 and beyond?” The sentiment was shared by many independent operators, concerned that lingering economic volatility could still hamper global energy demand and that the Opec+ alliance could quickly renege on its supply pledge. “
Also in this section
9 January 2026
The Latin American producer’s crude prospects rely on a multi-pronged approach where even the relatively easy wins will take considerable time, effort and cost
9 January 2026
While many forecasters are reasserting the importance of oil and gas, petrostates should be under no illusion things are changing, and faster than they might think
8 January 2026
Indonesia and Malaysia are at the dawn of breathtaking digital capabilities. Their energy infrastructure must keep up with their ambitions
8 January 2026
The next five years will be critical for the North Sea, and it will be policy not geology that will decide the basin’s future
